Venice Film Festival 2026: Dates, Lineup, Jury and Opening Film

The 83rd Venice International Film Festival runs from **Wednesday, September 2 to Saturday, September 12, 2026**, on the Lido di Venezia. As usual it is the first major stop of the fall awards season, just ahead of Toronto. Source: La Biennale.

**Ink**, directed by Danny Boyle, opens the festival. The film dramatizes the early days of Rupert Murdoch's media empire, centered on his acquisition of the British tabloid The Sun. It is one of the most politically charged opening-night picks Venice has made in years. Sources: La Biennale, IndieWire.

**Maggie Gyllenhaal**, the actress turned writer-director of The Lost Daughter, presides over the main competition jury. The panel includes Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania, English composer Daniel Blumberg, Italian film scholar Francesco Casetti, French director Xavier Giannoli, Afghan director Shahrbanoo Sadat and Hong Kong director Johnnie To. Source: La Biennale.

A stacked slate: **Luca Guadagnino, Martin McDonagh, Wim Wenders, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Werner Herzog, Paul Schrader, Nanni Moretti, Lee Chang-dong, Lav Diaz, Tsai Ming-liang, Laura Poitras, Julia Loktev, Mariano Llinás, Danny Boyle** and more. The full selection was announced by the Biennale in late July 2026. Sources: La Biennale, The Film Stage, IndieWire.

**George Clooney** and **Ellen Burstyn** both receive honorary Golden Lions for lifetime achievement. Clooney has a long Venice history, from Gravity to The Tender Bar, while Burstyn's award crowns a six-decade career from The Last Picture Show and The Exorcist to Requiem for a Dream. Source: La Biennale.

At the 2025 edition, the Golden Lion went to **Jim Jarmusch's Father Mother Sister Brother**. Venice has become a reliable Oscar launchpad: recent editions premiered eventual best-picture heavyweights and acting winners, which is why studios fight for its early-September slots. Sources: La Biennale, Variety.

Yes. Unlike Cannes, Venice sells **tickets to the public** for most screenings, including competition premieres on the Lido. Tickets go on sale via the Biennale's official site in the days before the festival, and accreditation covers industry, press and film-club categories. Source: La Biennale.

On the **Lido di Venezia**, the barrier island facing Venice, mainly in and around the historic Palazzo del Cinema on the Lungomare Marconi. The festival, founded in 1932, is the oldest film festival in the world and part of the Venice Biennale. Source: La Biennale.

Because its early-September slot launches the awards season. Films that premiere on the Lido dominate fall conversation, and several recent best-picture winners started there. A strong Venice reception, or a long standing ovation, has become an early Oscar signal that studios engineer deliberately. Sources: Variety, IndieWire.

For evening premieres in the Sala Grande, black tie is the norm on the red carpet, though the festival is less rigid than Cannes about enforcement. Daytime screenings are casual. The Venice carpet has also become one of fashion's biggest moments of the year, with celebrity arrivals by water taxi. Sources: La Biennale, Vogue.